aspire ps command

Name

aspire ps - List running Aspire AppHosts.

Synopsis

Aspire CLI

aspire ps [options]

Description

The aspire ps command lists all running Aspire AppHost processes. The output includes the AppHost project path, process IDs, and dashboard URLs for each running instance.

The command scans for running AppHosts by checking the backchannel connections in the ~/.aspire/backchannels/ directory. This approach is fast because it doesn’t need to recursively search for project files.

aspire ps provides AppHost-level information. Use --follow to continuously stream AppHost lifecycle updates. To inspect per-resource details or stream resource state changes within a specific AppHost, use aspire describe --follow.

The default output is a human-readable table with the following columns:

Column	Description
PATH	The file path to the AppHost project
SDK	The Aspire SDK version used by the AppHost
PID	The process ID of the running AppHost
CLI_PID	The process ID of the CLI that started the AppHost
DASHBOARD	The dashboard URL with login token

Note

Log file paths are not shown in the table output. Use aspire ps --format Json to retrieve log file paths programmatically.

In-scope AppHosts (those within the current directory) are displayed first, followed by out-of-scope AppHosts.

Options

The following options are available:

• -f, --follow

  Continuously stream AppHost lifecycle updates. Requires --format Json. Output is emitted as one compact JSON object per line in Newline Delimited JSON (NDJSON) format whenever an AppHost starts, stops, or changes state. Each line follows the same schema as a single AppHost entry from snapshot JSON output, plus a status field (running or stopped).

• --format <Json|Table>

  Output result format. Use Json for machine-readable output suitable for scripting and automation. The JSON output includes an array of AppHost objects with appHostPath, appHostPid, cliPid, logFilePath, and dashboardUrl properties. The logFilePath field is null when no log path is available. Defaults to Table.

• -?, -h, --help

  Prints help and usage documentation for the available commands and options.

• -l, --log-level <Critical|Debug|Error|Information|None|Trace|Warning>

  Set the minimum log level for console output. Use this option to increase diagnostics while troubleshooting or reduce output in scripted runs.

• --non-interactive

  Run the command in non-interactive mode, disabling all interactive prompts and spinners.

• --nologo

  Suppress the startup banner and telemetry notice.

• --banner

  Display the animated Aspire CLI welcome banner.

• --wait-for-debugger

  Wait for a debugger to attach before running a command.

Examples

• List all running AppHosts in table format:

  Aspire CLI

  aspire ps

  Example output:

  Output

  PATH                                                SDK     PID    CLI_PID  DASHBOARD
  ./src/MyApp.AppHost/MyApp.AppHost.csproj            13.3.0  12345  12340    https://localhost:17244/login?t=abc123
  /home/user/other/OtherApp.AppHost.csproj            13.3.0  67890  67885    https://localhost:17250/login?t=def456

• Output running AppHosts as JSON for scripting:

  Aspire CLI

  aspire ps --format Json

  Example output:

  Output

  [
    {
      "appHostPath": "./src/MyApp.AppHost/MyApp.AppHost.csproj",
      "appHostPid": 12345,
      "cliPid": 12340,
      "logFilePath": "~/.aspire/logs/cli_20260516T123456_abc12345.log",
      "dashboardUrl": "https://localhost:17244/login?t=abc123"
    }
  ]

  The logFilePath property is null when no log path is available for the AppHost.

• Stream AppHost lifecycle updates as NDJSON and pipe to jq:

  Aspire CLI

  aspire ps --follow --format Json | jq -c '{ appHostPath, status }'

See also

• aspire run
• aspire stop
• aspire describe